1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image-forming device that easily eliminates obstructions along a conveying path of a recording medium.
2. Related Art
Image-forming devices such as printers, facsimile machines, copy machines, or multifunction devices combining the functions of these machines are well known in the art. One type of image-forming device employing an electrophotographic system charges a photosensitive member and subsequently exposes the photosensitive member to light from a laser, LED, or the like to form electrostatic latent images thereon. The electrostatic latent image is developed using toner or other type of developer. The developed image is then transferred onto a recording medium and is fixed on the recording medium by heat generated in a fixing unit, thereby forming an image on the recording medium. In this type of image-forming device, a conveying path is formed from a point that a recording medium is fed into the device to a point that the recording medium is discharged from the device after passing through an image-forming unit, enabling the recording medium to be conveyed through the device without becoming jammed.
The image-forming unit is generally provided in the center of a casing or thereabout because the photosensitive member degrades in quality when exposed to light. Further, in an effort to manufacture a compact device, a cover provided on a casing to facilitate maintenance of a conveying path section from the point that a recording medium is supplied into the device to the image-forming unit also serves to cover an opening through which a developer cartridge for supplying toner or the like to the image-forming unit is inserted and removed. One example of such an image-forming device is a laser printer disclosed in Japanese unexamined patent application publication No. 2002-104694. In this laser printer, paper stacked on a paper supply tray or a multipurpose tray is fed into a conveying path by a feeding roller and conveyed toward an image-forming unit. Registration rollers register the paper and adjust the timing at which the paper is supplied to the image-forming unit. In this laser printer, a cover is provided on the front surface of a main casing near the multipurpose tray. By opening the cover, a developer cartridge accommodating toner can be inserted or removed. When paper being conveyed toward the image-forming unit becomes jammed in this laser printer, a user must open the cover on the main casing and pull the leading edge of the jammed paper in a direction that causes the paper to fold back away from the direction in which the paper was being conveyed toward the image-forming unit.